Percy Jackson: A Loser in High School
by Grace2044
Summary: Percy is leader of Camp. One day, his mum decides to send him to school. Read, as Percy's not-so-good school year passes and then he has to take the people that bullied him all year back to HIS camp! Luckily, Percy still has a few tricks up his sleeve to show them that this is his home turf. What will happen between Percy and the bullies? Can they become friends?
1. I Stoll a Deal

**Just so you know, this story is also on Wattpad under my account 'Grace204'so you can check it out there, too. (Its called 'Percy Jackson Goes to High School' there)  
**

**DISCLAIMER FOR THE WHOLE STORY:**

**I only own the story line; not the characters. All credit for them goes to Rick Riordan for his marvelous Percy Jackson and Heroes or Olympus series. **

**Enjoy.**

Looking out over a gorgeous lake, I realised just how much I was going to miss this place. The light danced over the light blue water, which was softly lapping against the sand. Looking out at it, you could see a lot of the campers were mucking about. They were, generally, just having fun. Which is exactly what you're supposed to do here at Camp Half Blood.

"Hey, Percy!"

I turned around and began to search for the owner of the voice that called my name.

"Uh, over here. Are you blind?" The same voice called out.

Oh, I thought. I know who that is. I quickly scanned my surrounding landscape and saw a beautiful pine tree. The base was large and a beautiful brown colour. Perfect for hiding two boys.

"Connor, Travis. I know you're there. I'm not dumb."

"That's a lie," Connor said as he emerged from behind the tree.

"MAJOR lie!" Travis laughed. They were two peas in a pod. Glancing at them, you'd think they were twins. If you looked a bit closer, you might notice the slight height difference between them, with Travis being a little taller. They both have curly, brown hair, charming blue eyes and upturned eyebrows. They were definitely the types of kids a teacher would peg as a trouble maker. And it's true. The fact that they're sons of Hermes, let alone the fact that they were actually the councillors of their cabin was proof enough.

"Hey! I am very, very smart!" I protest.

"Yeah? Ok, what the square root of 15?" Travis asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Ermm. I would say, but you guys probably don't know the answer and I wouldn't wanna embarrass you, now would I?"

"Oh trust us, you won't be-"

"So, what are you guys doing here anyways?" I quickly said, cutting Connor off. Realisation overtook their cocky expressions as they remembered why they were here in the first place.

"Well, you know Katie?" Travis began.

"Uh, yeah I know Katie!"

"Yeah, well Travis really wanted us to play a prank on her-" Connor continued.

"So we did, and when she finds it, we're probably gonna need protection." Travis finished.

I laughed.

"Gods, you guys are hopeless. I thought you would have learnt your lesson after last time. You know, after you get strangled by vines and injured so that your stuck in the infirmary for a week-"

"Actually, it was two weeks," they interrupted, in sync.

"The message usually tends to stick" I told them, "anyways I have to finish packing. Remember? I have to go back to New York tomorrow with my mum and Paul."

"Oh come on Perce. Please! Help us hide for an hour or two! Just until she calms down." They begged. But there was no way I was giving in. Last time I helped them, Katie assumed that I was in on the prank and I was stuck with a tomato plant growing on top of my head for a week. Not my best experience.

"No, guys. There is no way I am helping. What did you guys even do? Actually, I don't want to know. The less I know, the better off my health will be after this little experience."

"Percyyyy! Please. We'll do anything!" They said. This made me stop.

"Anything?" I inquired, arching an eyebrow.

They glanced at each other, nodded and turned back to me.

"Anything." They agreed, "But first, man, please hide us, she's gonna find it anytime soon-" at that point in time a loud shriek echoed around our little valley.

"STOLLS!"

It was Katie, and she sounded peeved. The brothers glanced at each other again and looked at me helplessly. I sighed.

"Fine. You guys owe me big time. Go hide in my cabin."

"Thank you SO much Percy!" They called out together as they ran in the direction of the Poseidon cabin.

As soon as they rounded one corner, a steaming Katie rounded the other. I took one glance at her and quickly held one hand over my mouth to cover my smile and cleared my throat in an attempt to hide my laugh.

"Don't you dare laugh, Jackson." She threatened. She was glaring at me pretty hard but it was difficult to take her seriously, considering what she looked like. The Stolls had gone for a classic. She was coated in sticky honey, which was covered in fluffy white feathers with a red glove on the top of her head to finish off the look. She looked like an overgrown, very demented chicken.

"Did you see them come past here?" Katie growled.

"Oh, the Stolls? Yeah, they just ran past, maybe five minutes ago, laughing their heads off and going in that direction." I pointed behind me, towards the woods.

"Thank you."

"Um. No worries, Katie. Anytime." With that, she stalked off, heading towards the woods, which was completely the wrong way, not that I was about to tell her that. No turning back now.

As soon as she was out of sight, I ran back to my cabin, laughing really hard.

"Damn, you guys are good," I said in between fits of laughter. I walked over to the two of them and high fived them.

"Yeah, we know. That was epic!" Connor laughs. They high fived each other and then sat down on one of the three empty bunk beds in my cabin. I began to pack again, joining into Travis' and Connor's conversation occasionally and soon I was completely finished and ready for tomorrow so I just sat and talked too. 9:00 pm rolled round and they declared it safe to head off. The two said goodnight and headed back to the Hermes cabin.

I got ready for bed and lay down, lost in my thoughts. A new school. New people I have to 'get to know.' In reality, a new school just means new people that I have to distance myself from. New people whom I can't let see the real me. Ugh. Life outside of Camp Half Blood sucks.

'Just one more year', I think in an attempt to reassure myself. Mum said that I just have to go to one more year of school and then she'd be alright with it if I just go to camp. I agreed. It was that or just not go to camp at all- which is just not an option for me. As the leader of CHB I have a responsibility. I need to be there for them and even if that means some sacrifices along the way, I still have to do it. So, school it is. With that last thought, I fall asleep, drifting into a dream-filled night. I hope it all goes well.


	2. What ar Mums For?

Ok. One thing you should know about me is that I am not a morning person. It was 7 am and I was not a happy chappy. I groggily got up from the Poseidon table at breakfast. All done. Now I needed to grab my bags and meet my mum at the big house by 8:30. The camp was already alive with activity. People running all around the place, eager to say goodbye to their friends before they leave for most off the year. As they were running, I got a lot of;

"Bye Percy!"

"Have a good year, Percy!"

"Later Percy!" And so on. But I did get one:

"Hasta la vista, Perce. Good luck surviving high school! *cough* you'll need it *cough*." From, of course, the one and only, Leo Valdez. Jason came into my cabin with his sister, Thalia and Nico trailing behind them. They all wished me hearty goodbyes. Luckily for them, they were year rounders, so they didn't have to go to some school. Although, they promised me that they would come see me in NY.

8:15 came around and I left with my stuff to go to the Big House. Travis and Connor stopped me along the way and said goodbye.

When I arrived at the Big House, Mum was already there, drinking coffee with Chiron. **(A/N: do horses even drink coffee? Idk so just go with it) **

"Why, hello there Percy." He greeted as soon as he saw me.

"Morning Chiron. Morning Mum. How's Tyson?"

Technically, Tyson was actually my half brother and wasn't related to my mum at all, but he still loved to hang around her and visit her and Paul.

"He's good. My baby! Percy! You've grown so big! So tall, so muscly!" I groaned inwardly and glanced at Chiron who looked as if he was trying not to laugh.

"Mum! Stop. Lets go. Bye Chiron. See you in the mid-year holidays. Iris message me if you need anything at all or something drastic happens at camp."

"Now Percy, I just got here-" Mum began.

"Yes well, we really should be going, anyway. I have school tomorrow. I need to rest. And revive... Unless you changed your mind and don't want to send me anymore?" I added hopefully.

"Percy, you have to go to school. We've been through this." Mum said. Despite what I say sometimes, I really do love my mum and don't want to make her mad (not like she ever gets mad anyway). Sighing, I say,

"Well lets go then!" And tug her up onto her feet. She continues thanking Chiron until I manage to pull her out the door.

"Mum!" I groan, as soon as we're out of earshot, "you're so embarrassing!"

She laughs and says,

"It's what mums do." Sighing, I shake my head and we walk to where our car is parked.

On the way home, mum asks me how my time has been at camp. If I've been getting along with everyone, etc. Truth be told, I think the main reason mum wanted me home is because she misses me. I'm glad, though. I miss her too. It was a long, boring 5 hour ride home. More so because of my ADHD. I kept on fidgeting and tapping on things and generally just being annoying. I tried not to, I truly did. I just can't help it.

As soon as we arrived at my apartment building, I jumped out of the car as fast as I could and ran up and down the stairs about 6 times, trying to get all of the bottled up energy out of me. I began to calm down and walked into my apartment. Number 212. The first thing I noticed was that Paul wasn't in. For all of you who don't know, Paul is my step dad. He's a great guy and works as a teacher at Goode High; the school I'm going to this year. He recently moved in with my mum.

"Where's Paul?" I ask.

"Working. He'll be back around four. In the meantime. We're going shopping." I groaned.

"Shopping? But mum. You know I hate shopping!"

"We'll stop at my old work, the candy store, and get you some blue lollies." That got my attention. I mean lollies are great. Blue food is great. But together...

"Fine. I'll come."

"Good." With that, we headed off

***************line breaker**************

_Five hours later:_

We arrived home at 6:30 and were greeted by Paul.

"Hey Sally. Percy! How are you?" He asked as soon as we walked in the door.

"I'm good." I say. We ate dinner and talked about how my summer was. By 8 o'clock, everyone was exhausted and we decided to call an early night. After saying good night to mum and Paul, I headed to bed and, for once, fell into a dreamless sleep.


	3. I Meet a Douche Bag

I woke to a soft knocking on my bedroom door.

"Perce, you need to get up." Mum called out. She opened the door and came to sit on the foot of my bed.

"Ugh" I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. Why the Hades would I get up this early?!

"Percy. You have school."

Oh crap. Here comes a day of torture. My head jerked up and I frantically looked around.

"Mum, please! Don't send me! Please! I'll do anything!" She just looked at me and I knew there was no point arguing. I sighed.

"Fine. But don't expect me to make any friends."

"Okay Percy. Here's the deal. I was talking to Chiron last night and he said that camp is bringing in a new program that gives kids an opportunity for education without leaving camp."

"So they're bringing a school to camp?" I asked, curiously.

"Something like that. So, I'm telling you, if you can last half the school year, I will let you go back to camp." I looked at her.

"Really? Thanks so much mum! I won't let you down!" She got up and left and I lay there for a few seconds longer. All I had to do was last half the school year. That means I can't do anything stupid that might get me discovered. I decided right then and there that I would not make any school friends.

I got out of bed and had a shower. The water instantly revived me. I got changed into a dark blue pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. I was going to do my best to go unnoticed as much as I could. After getting changed, I headed downstairs and ate my breakfast (blue waffles soaked in syrup, of course).

"Bye mum!" I yelled hastily over my shoulder as I rushed out the door. I'd better not be late on the first day. No use in attracting unwanted attention, right? I ran to the bus stop my mum had told me about the day before and made it just in time to get on the bus. I got a few looks that said, 'Oh great, a new kid.' Some looks even said 'fresh meat'. Yeah. Right. I'd like to see you try, I thought. Wait, never mind. As little attention as possible. I couldn't fight back.

When the bus arrived at school I got off with everyone else. The name was, 'Goode High: A really goode school!' I rolled my eyes at the attempted pun and went to the main office to get my schedule. Surprisingly, I didn't receive many looks at all. I guess these kids were used to a lot of people joining their school. And that was fine by me. I picked up my schedule. Today I had:

Home room (roll call)

Math

Elective 1 (marine Biology)

AM Break (50 minutes)

English

English

PM Break (25 minutes)

Sport

Sport

I was DEFINITELY not excited for double English. My dyslexia was gonna kill. I walked off, lugging my heavy bag. This school didn't have lockers so I was stuck with lugging a bag with at least 3 books in it. Great.

I walked down the halls, almost getting lost numerous times. The warning bell rang. 'Oh Hades, I thought. I'm going to be late'. Soon after the actual bell rang I finally found my way to home room. This time I got the stares. 30 heads snapped around to stare at me.

"Mr...?" The teacher started.

"Jackson." I finished. He looked up.

"Ah. The new kid. Thought it'd be cool to be late on your first day, huh? Well it's not." He glared at me, "Don't let it happen again." I rolled my eyes. This teacher was going for the 'tough guy' routine. I'm in for a great half year, aren't I? (Note the sarcasm).

The teacher, whom still hasn't told me _his _name, began calling role call. I zoned out until I heard,

"Jackson, Perceus" my head shot up, expecting a monster. No one calls me that. It took a second but I remembered where I was.

"Call me Percy, please." It wasn't a question. I was telling him to call me that. He seemed to get the hint, nodded and continued sprouting random names until he was finally finished.

"You may chat for five minutes or until the bell goes."

I just sat in my seat, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone that seemed to glance at me. I noticed that there were two people in the back whom whispering about something and seemed to keep looking at me. They were obviously talking about me. This went on for another three minutes until I got fed up.

"Excuse me," I say in an annoyed voice to them, "do you mind?"

Everyone stopped and looked at me but I kept glaring at the couple. It was a boy and a girl, the girl was actually startlingly pretty, with shining grey eyes and beautiful blonde, curly hair. The boy also had blonde hair, only his was cut short and was straight. His eyes were blue and his eyebrows were upturned. He was, no doubt, a trouble maker. I immediately didn't like him. He was for sure one of those stupid mortal jocks who walked around acting like they own the place.

The boy pretended he didn't hear and kept talking about me. I continued to glare at him. He looked up and faltered for a second.

Now, let me tell you, my glare is pretty damn scary. I've had years of practicing it on annoying campers.

"Didn't your mum ever tell you it is rude to stare?" I asked, mockingly. **(A/N: in this book, Luke's mum is normal, Kay? Kay.)** The boy scoffed,

"Shut it, new kid. Before I shut it for you."

I rolled my eyes at his stupidity. I could easily take this kid down in a fight. But no. Too much attention. I couldn't. I looked away and in the corner of my eye I could see the boy smile at his 'win'. The girl just kept staring at me like she was trying to figure something out. I dismissed it. Whatever, right? I don't have time to worry about some mortal teenage girl.

The kid I was sitting next to, a short brown haired boy, leant over to me.

"That's Luke and Annabeth," he told me, "they're not actually going out but Luke is the most popular guy in this school and Annabeth is the most popular girl. If I were you, I wouldn't mess with them." Yeah right, I thought. They might hold a lot of power at some school but I hold power over the whole of Camp Half Blood and most of Camp Jupiter. I am the son of one of the big three gods. _They _are the ones who should be afraid.

The bell rang, signalling the start of first period. Great. Math. I found the correct classroom and walked in a second before the bell rang. Oh. Even better. Luke and Annabeth were in this class. I looked around and saw an empty seat up in the back corner and headed over to it, passing Luke's table on the way. He stuck his foot out and tried to trip me on my way and I almost fell. Luckily, all those years of camp trained me for this sort of thing and I expertly caught my balance, not stumbling or tripping at all. When I got to my seat, I dropped my book down onto the table with a loud bang and plonked myself into the seat. The teacher walked in and introduced herself as 'Mrs Harris'. She seemed nice enough until she told me to stand up and talk about myself.

"Percy Jackson." I said in a monotone when asked what my name was. The teacher gave me a look that said 'stop trying to look cool, it's not working.'

"Okay, so, say something about yourself." She quipped, trying to make me talk.

"I'm not really an interesting person." I replied in the same voice and sat back down. Instantly, the whispers started, the loudest being from Luke's table. He was sitting with Annabeth, a pretty girl with choppy brown hair whose name I learnt from roll call was Piper and a blonde haired boy whose name was Will. I caught a few words like 'reckons he's so cool' and 'we'll show him who's boss at this school'.

The teacher, obviously very flustered at the sudden chatter, told us all to be quiet and listen. After that, we just went on with the lesson. I basically stared out the window, wishing I could get out of here. When the bell went, I packed up my stuff and headed off to my next class; Marine Biology. This should be really easy.

We were all told to grab a pen and our work books and walk around the classroom trying to figure out the name of all the plant and animal species in the small tanks set up around the room. Obviously, with the plants I just had to look at them or touch the water that they were in and I'd know exactly what they were and with the animals I just had to mentally ask them what they were and they'd reply to me in my head but I had to make it look like I had to work to find the answer so I just copied what everyone else was doing.

Eventually, the bell rang for AM break. I walked out with my bag, went outside and sat down under a tree. I took my lunch and my phone **(A/N: I don't care if demigods can't have phones, just deal with it)** out and started checked for messages. I had about 15. All from different people at camp asking how I was. I sent back a text to everyone saying:

_'School sucks. I hope you guys are having fun back at camp and everything is okay. Will see you guys in school holidays! :) Double English next. Wish me luck'_ and then I ate my lunch.

After a boring double English where I just zoned out and did nothing again, and a lonely PM break, it was time for sport. I heard that we were swimming today. Just my luck that I'm under cover. It turns out that swimming is this school's main sport, and that Luke is the captain. I had no doubt that I could whip his butt easily, but I had to refrain from doing so.

The bell rang and we all walked to the gym. "Alright cupcakes, listen up." I heard a familiar voice bellow. I sighed. This'll be good. I opened the doors and walked in. Our 'coach' looked up. It was Coach Hedge, one of the satyrs from back at camp. Coach Hedge usually helped look after the running and footwork classes, and therefore I knew him quite well.

He grinned at me and shouted,

"Jackson! How are you?!" I gave him a look that said, 'SHUT UP RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE GONNA BLOW IT!'

Thankfully, he got the hint and stopped grinning.

"Good. How are you, Coach?" I asked politely.

"I'm good. Knocking these little sooks into line." He replied, gesturing to the class with his hand. I nodded and turned away. I would approach him later. Unluckily for me, Luke and his buddy, Will came up to me.

"How do you know the coach? Huh?" Luke sneered.

"Yeah, no offence but the only actual names he bothers to remember are us hotshots on the swim team." Will added in. He didn't seem too bad, except for the fact he was hanging out with this obvious jerk.

"Where I know him from is actually none of your business, thanks." I told them sternly and walked off.

During swimming, I tried to stay near the back and look exhausted. Near the end of the lesson I asked Coach Hedge if I could please get out because I was way too tired to continue. Obviously, this was a lie. I was even more energised now than I was before sport. Coach gave me a weird look and said that I could get out if I wanted. I heard Luke say, 'wimp'. Apparently, so did coach. His head shot up and he started yelling,

"Excuse you, Mr Castellan, but this boy has been through more than-"

"Coach." I say quietly. He needed to stop before he blew it.

"-you have and probably ever will you ungrateful-"

"COACH!" I shouted. He stopped abruptly and looked at me, realising his mistake.

"Hit the showers, Jackson. I want to talk to you." I quickly hurried off, away from all the weird looks I was getting, got changed and went out to talk to Coach Hedge just as everyone was coming into the changerooms for their showers. I walked over to Coach. He heard my footsteps and turned around.

"So. How'd Mr 'Camp Hotshot' end up here, huh?" He asked jokingly.

"Well, my mum said that I had to go to school for half a year and then she'd let me go back to camp. The only problem is that I can't mess up and get expelled or have someone figure out my true identity or I'll have to change schools and stay there for a whole year."

He nodded in understanding.

"If there's anything you need me to do, I'm always here, captain." I laughed, remembering how long it took me to actually earn his respect.

"Well, the only real thing you could do for me is let me out of some of these classes. Only ones that might show who I really am." I asked and he agreed.

"Now get going, cupcake," he told me, "Good luck in this school. You'll need it." Real inspiring, I thought (sarcasm intended).

A few minutes later the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. Thank the gods.

"Later coach"

"Bye, Jackson" he said and I walked out to get my bag and catch the bus home.


	4. My Teacher Grows Three Heads

After a few days at school, things with Luke began to quieten down. I just started to ignore him and eventually, he took the hint. It was more than obvious that he was annoyed at the fact that he wasn't getting a reaction from me.

It was now Friday, 2nd period and, let me tell you, I have a _very _weird teacher. His name was Mr Jets. He always wore dress shoes and a leather jacket. I know what your thinking... '_Jeez Percy, you can't just hate on somebody because of what they wear!'_ But that's not the only reason. Every single lesson, when I walk in, he just glares at me. And by the way, that is _every single lesson. _It's not just once or twice, its every time. But wait, there's more! He came to Goode the day after I arrived here. He just walked in one lesson, saying that our old teacher had come down with 'a truly awful cold' and that 'he almost certainly won't be coming back this year'. Nobody argued with it or questioned it, except me. I asked Paul about him and he said that he thought that Mr Jets had worked at the school for years.

Now, I was almost sure that he was a monster, but which one? All week I had been waiting for an opportunity to go one on one at him with a sword, but he never seemed to be alone and I couldn't risk being seen by the other students. I'd done my best during lessons to concentrate really hard and stare at him for ages (which isn't easy when you're ADHD let me tell you) but to no avail. The mist that is hiding him must be _really _strong.

So anyway, back to present, we were all sitting down in our usual seats, with me tuning out the rest of the world, when the office lady waked into the room. By her side was a shortish kid with pale skin and dark hair. His looks strongly reminded me of Nico but the way he walked and acted reminded me of Tyson when I first met him. Unsure, un confident and an easy target. I immediately knew he'd be getting a lot of bullying from some of the kids *cough* Luke *cough* if he stayed here. My heart instantly warmed up to him. See, even when I'm undercover like I am now, I simply _**cannot stand it**_when other kids are bullied.

The office lady told the kid to stand in the doorway and said to the class,

"Everybody, this is Damian, he will be joining us at Goode High," and then, with a pointed glare at Luke and some of the other 'populars', added; "be nice to him." After that she walked over to Mr Jets, said a few words and began to walk back out. Before she made it back to the door, though, Luke's voice rang out, saying

"So, Damian. A gothic name for a gothic kid, huh?" **(A/N Sorry to all the Damian's out there, your name is great!) **Most of his table burst out laughing and Damian blushed right down to his Adam's apple. The office lady spun around, shot a disapproving glare at Luke and his table and walked out of the room. Mr Jets merely smirked. Apparently encouraged, Luke stood up and laughed,

"Don't you ever get hot under those layers of black, goth kid?" I couldn't believe how quickly they had started hating on him. Damian looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. That's it, I thought. I stood up and replied to Luke's insult with,

"Don't you ever get hot under those layers of fat, Castellan?" That got the class going. They all looked at me with open mouths, stunned that I would stand up to the most popular guy in school. After Luke got over his shock, he smirks at me,

"Geez Jackson, have you opened your eyes lately? I'm not exactly what you'd call fat." he flicked his shirt up and showed his flat stomach, with a four pack, making most of the girls in the class swoon. He had absolutely nothing on my toned six pack. Obviously thinking he's won he grins at me and goes to sit down. Before he does I call out,

"Oh, my bad. I just assumed you had a big stomach. It would've gone with your big head." Everybody laughs and shouts,

"_Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!_" Luke's face turns red and he sits down.

"Shut up, guys." He tells his table and they quickly quietened down. "You're in for it now, Jackson" I hear him mutter.

I'm just about to sit down when I glance at Mr Jets. He is glaring at me like _I'm _the one who has done something wrong. I almost look away when Mr Jets emits a low growl that comes from the back of his throat. He's still glaring at me. The class quietens down, seeming to notice our little standoff. My right hand edges towards my pocket, where my bronze sword, Riptide, is kept, still in pen form. Mr Jets notices and his eyes widened. He seems to finally realised something.

"Perseus Jackson?" he mutters, as if questioning something he's already guessed. "No. Not _the _Perseus Jackson. It can't be. Imagine if I was the one to kill him..." At the word 'kill' everybody in the class' eyes widen, before going back to normal. The mist probably made them think he said something else. Luke's eyes stayed wide, though.

"Kill?" he chokes out, looking from me to Mr Jets. Somebody else shushed him, saying,

"No, Mr Jets said 'imagine if I was the one to stop his attitude'." Stupid mortal, I thought, being fooled by the mist. Luke nodded but his eyes stayed wide. I continued glaring at the monster when somebody coughed. It was Damian, still standing in the doorway.

"So, can I come in now, please Sir?" Mr Jets looked around, clearly remembering where we were, and nodded.

"You can sit next to Jackson." He growled. Damian looked at me and I nodded and then sat down. Damian walked over and sat down next to me. Mr Jets looked at an imaginary watch on his hand.

"Oh, look at the time," he says as if rehearsed, "I must be going to pick something up from... somewhere." Yeah, I thought. Real subtle. Then he said the words I'd been dreading, "Mr Jackson, if you'd please accompany me." I shifted in my seat. Sure, I wanted to fight him, but on my own terms.

"I think you can find someone else, thanks." I tell him. He glares at me.

"Mr Jackson." he literally growls, "you _will _come with me." I couldn't say no anymore without causing an uproar. I was supposed to be undercover, for goodness sake. I was already being shot some suspicious glances from my peers. I stand up and walk over to where Mr Jets is standing by the door.

"Wise choice," He says, "Mr Castellan, you are in charge until I return." With that, he walks out the door and heads to the oval, which is empty.

A cloud covers the sun and with the dull light still shining on the field, I see Mr Jets starting to grow. I'm talking, actually grow, he grows up to at least 7 foot, out of his nails shoot sharp talons. He grows more arms and legs, until he has six of each. Large, slimy, bony wings sprout out his sides and a long, spiky tail shoots from his behind. Finally, out of his neck, grows two other heads.

"Perseus Jackson," His three heads hiss to me, "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."


	5. We Call Our Dogs

"Ah, yes," I say cockily, "I am pretty famous aren't I? You should have just rung my manager and we could of organised a date or something..." The monster growled a low growl.

"Enough!" he shouted.

"Well, ok, Mr Grumpy Bum. _Someone _woke up on the wrong side of Tartarus, didn't they?" All this while I was racking my brains to figure out _who he was. _I remembered him from one of the classes Chiron, our camp trainer, had taught.

Suddenly, he put two of his fingers in his middle head's mouth and let out a long, piercing whistle. Out of the shadows leapt a dog. Now, this wasn't any ordinary dog. This hound had two heads, was the size of a small car and had teeth as big as daggers.

"Orthrus, here boy!" Mr Jets in monster form called. Now I remembered. This three bodied monster was named Geryon. He was a son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and his hound was named Orthrus, brother of the dog of the underworld, Cerberus. I remembered that Hercules had killed them both. _But how? _I wondered. Apparently Hercules had killed Orthrus, which then made Geryon come check out the scene. After being chased by Geryon for ages, Hercules had shot him through the forehead with an arrow dipped in venomous blood of the Lernaean Hydra, making Geryon die almost instantly.

I realise that I was unfortunately lacking some of that blood, not to mention that I can't shoot an arrow straight to save my life. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to stick with my trusty sword.

"Save yourself the embarrassment, Perseus. Hold still and let my kill you."

"Yeah. That'll happen," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"You'll never get past my hound! He is as strong as two trucks, as fast as a lion!" He boasted. _Oh yeah? _I thought, _two can play at that game._

I whistled my own whistle. A short, taxi whistle that I'd quickly picked up living here in New York. Seconds later, my hellhound, Mrs O'Leary, came bounded through one of the bushes on the oval and ran to my side. Catching sight of Geryon and Orthrus, she crouched low and began to growl. I cocked an eyebrow at Geryon in a way that said, 'It's on'.

The fight started so quickly I don't even remember moving. Geryon shouted a battle cry and leapt towards me in one ferocious jump. At the same time, Orthrus pounced at Mrs O'Leary. I focused on Geryon and reacted on instinct, bringing Riptide up in defence in one fluid motion. There was a sickening _shlick _and suddenly Geryon only had four arms instead of six. He wailed in pain and swept his tail out in an attempt to knock me over. I jumped over it and landed in a roll, coming up kneeling, I drove my sword into his stomach and pulled it out again. Before he could react, I was already off and running.

His injuries made him very slow and quite obviously, weaker. He tried to swipe at me with his talons but I parried. In my peripheral vision, I notice a puff of dust. Mrs O'Leary had obviously killed Orthrus, now it was just up to me to get the monster. _Time to finish this guy,_ I deadpanned. I ducked as he swung at me and ran in close to his body. I reached up to where I figured his heart would be and brought Riptide down. Geryon instantly crumbled into dust which was then blown away by the wind.

I wiped my hands on my shorts and mentally patted myself on the back. I turned to my left and walked to Mrs O'Leary. She had a few scratches on her throat and a bite mark on her right forepaw but they didn't look too serious.

"Good girl!" I told her, "You were absolutely brilliant, you know that?" She wagged her tail happily and lay down in the grass next to me. "No girl. Sorry, but you can't stay. I have school." Her mood instantly dropped. She looked at me sadly and whined. "Why don't you go find Nico? You can play tug-of-war with him again!" Obviously, the first time didn't go so well. For Nico, that is. Mrs O'Leary _loved _it. Nico had bruises literally _everywhere _for weeks.

At the sound of her favourite game Mrs O'Leary jumped up, gave me one last lick on my face and galloped off. Glad that's settled. Now, for class. How am I going to explain our missing teacher? Whatever. I'll just wait for the bell to go for our next class and then I won't be stuck with an explanation.

With that sorted out, I turned back to the entrance to the oval and started walking. With a start, I realised there was a blonde girl there. _Annabeth_ my brain told me. Crap. Had she seen any of the fight? It looked like it. She was standing, open mouthed looking at me. A stack of books that she'd clearly been holding lay abandoned beside her.

Crap, crap, crap. I groaned and kept walking towards her. When I got there, she seemed to have regained some of her composure, yet she still seemed pretty much in awe.

"Yes?" I asked in an annoyed tone. Annabeth wasn't as bad as Luke but she was still Luke's friend, so naturally I didn't like her.

She kept staring.

"You. You just... What _was _that? The dogs, and that massive three headed thing and... What the hell just happened?" she rambled.

"A prank," I told her, almost too quickly. "The whole thing was a setup to prank whoever was watching, which happened to be you." Her eyes narrowed and I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Oh yeah, well how do you explain-"

"Sorry. I have to go, bye." with that, I hurried off. Luckily, the bell rang (talk about getting saved by the bell) and I walked to 3rd period, Other Language. I was taking Greek. The downside was that so was Luke, Annabeth and all their little gang. Hopefully if I lie low and am quiet, I can avoid another confrontation via Annabeth.


	6. Greek with the Gang

I ran into class and sat in my usual spot in the back left corner. Unfortunately, this class, (which should really be my favourite), was also the only class in which all of Luke's goons were in at the same time. In total, his group had eight members: Luke Castellan, Annabeth Chase, Ethan Nakamura, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Will Solace, Piper McLean and Drew Tanaka.

Soon after I arrive, Luke, Annabeth and their gang walk in. It's weird that they're in so early. Usually they wait until the last possible second to walk into class. Luke seems to have gotten over hearing the word 'kill' last period but Annabeth stares at me the whole time. I guess that they can both see through the mist. Damn.

Everyone but Annabeth immediately make their way to the other back table in the class room and sit down. Luke, noticing Annabeth's hesitation gestures for her to come over. She doesn't. Instead, she looks over at me as if contemplating whether she should come over or not. She obviously wants to figure out what she saw on the oval with the monster. I don't know a lot about Annabeth but one thing I do know is that she HATES not being able to figure something out.

She glances at my face and I shake my head. I do not want her over here. She ignores my hostility and comes over anyway, earning a dozen weird looks from our classmates.

"Hi, Percy," she says when she gets here, dislike evident in her voice. I don't even know why she doesn't like me. It's not like I've done anything to her. Yet. "So, um... what were you doing on the oval?"

I know if I continue ignoring her she will get even more suspicious. I decide to reply.

"What did you see?" I ask. She looks unsure for a moment; an expression that doesn't really suit her face. Finally, she answered.

"Well you went onto the oval with that history teacher, Mr Jets. Then he... He turned into this massive monster. And then you, like, started fighting him with this sword that suddenly appeared in your hand. After that, you stabbed him and he disappeared." To be honest, I was quite impressed with how she was taking this. Most mortals would start freaking out like crazy. Instead of telling her this, I gave her my best 'are you kidding me?' look.

"Are you serious Annabeth? You think _what_ happened? You're kidding right? A monster? You should probably get some sleep or something."

"But... But it _did _happen! I saw it." she protested.

"Come on. I thought you were supposed to be smart? Maybe it was a trick of the light, maybe you're sleep deprived. I don't know! Just don't bother me with your fantasies, okay? Now go away please."

For a second I could see a flicker of uncertainty and embarrassment pass over her face, but she quickly concealed it. I instantly felt bad. I'm not usually one to treat people badly, but this was necessary.

"Annabeth, I said: Go. Away." She didn't move, so I brought out the one thing that would make her go away. My death glare. Seriously, I don't use it often but when I need it my glare can get rid off most unwanted visitors. That is, excluding monsters.

She shrunk back in her seat but didn't leave. I hardened my glare and finally she got up.

"Whatever, Percy. I know what I saw and I _will_ find out." Annabeth threatened and then left. Soon after, the class started. This class was always a breeze. Weirdly enough, all of Luke's gang were pretty good, too. It came almost naturally to them. Especially Annabeth. I already knew Greek and was way better than the teacher and everyone else in the class at it. Unfortunately, I couldn't show it. That's the thing about being undercover. People might be a bit surprised if you suddenly knew another language. I passed, but not with flying colours.

One thing that nagged at me the whole lesson, though, was Annabeth's threat. _'I know what I saw and I will find out'. _I guess I'd just have to be extra careful from now on.


	7. Dodge Ball

Today was a Friday. The last day of school for the week. YES! I'd finally get to go back to camp and hang out with my real friends. This is only my third week at this school and I already hate it.

Swinging my backpack onto my shoulder, I headed to my second period class; gym. I'd been told that today we were working on fitness. Great. Another lesson where I'd have to pretend that I was weak. I slipped into the change rooms unnoticed by Luke and his friends who were telling some kind of stupid joke in the corner. I set my bag down, pulled out my gym shirt and walked to one of the toilet stalls.

Usually I wouldn't hesitate to just rip off my shirt then and there. I'd been without a shirt in front of others plenty of times. (Usually because of monsters shredding it to bits) Anyways, I had to go change in the stall because, to be quite honest, if one of the other guys saw me without a shirt they would freak. I was one of the fitess guys out there. I had toned muscles and a hard six pack. People would probably question where I got that kind of muscle if they saw it.

After I got out, Annabeth and her friends, Drew, Piper and Hazel walked out. Hazel actually seemed kind of nice, she just hung out with the wrong people.

"Oi cupcakes!" a loud voice called from across the gym, "everyone do five laps around the gym! Oh, and finish it up with ten pushups."

The entire class let out a groan in unison. Coach Hedge was teaching again today. Fabulous. At least it would be an interesting lesson. We all set out circling the gym. The jocks racing each other, the girls going slow and me hanging back, pretending to be winded. On my 3rd lap Luke ran up behind me and shoved me in the back, trying to trip me. I stumbled a little bit for show but I could have easily caught my balance. I was so sick of this bullying. Finally we finished 'warm up' and it was time for the real stuff.

"Fitness today, kids!" Hedge shouted. "Everybody grab a skipping rope." The class began wandering, still out of breath, to the skipping ropes until Hedge let out a roar that could've scared a lion.

"NOW!" That got everybody moving. We all ran to the ropes, grabbed one and lined up.

"Alright. You skinny little twits need to put on some muscle, don't you." Coach remarked.

"Well, Percy could certainly use some." Luke called out, making a few idiots in the class laugh. Coach Hedge's head snapped around to look at Luke. I expected him to get mad at Luke but instead he glanced back at me and burst out laughing.

"You're joking," he said, "Percy? Percy needs more muscle?" With that he burst into another fit of laughter. The class looked confused. They looked from me to Coach back to me. I hid a smile.

"Coach. Remember what I said?" I ask. His smile shuts off almost immediately but his eyes tell that he is still very amused at what Luke said.

"Right. Ok then. Everyone you have a minute to do 50 jumps and then come back here. We're going to play dodge ball." The class started jumping. For once, I decided to finish first. After skipping, I sat in the area that Coach had told us to come to. Soon after me, Annabeth finished, then Will and Luke. After that, the rest of their gang (Drew excluded) and then finally the whole class.

"Took ya long enough. Now everyone break into two teams. QUICKLY!" Everyone scurried over to their friends and joined one of the teams. It was basically Luke's gang, everyone considered even slightly 'popular' on one team and a few of us losers on the other. The teams were enormously uneven. It was maybe 20 vs 7. I didn't mind though, I could take them. Apparently Coach figured I could, too for he looked at me questionably. I nodded. I was sick to death of this bullying. It was time to give them a glimpse of what I could do.

"Ok, cupcakes. Castellan's team, get on the end of the baseline and lie down facing away from the middle." he says, pointing to one end of the gym. "And Jackson's team, go do the same on that side."

We all wandered over to the line, all the people on my team complaining about the unfairness of the teams. When we finally got into position, Coach screamed;

"Ready? Set. Go!"

The game started quickly. I didn't bother running for a ball. Luke and Annabeth did, though. When they got to the middle Luke picked up a ball and instantly aimed it at me. I merely stepped to the side and let the ball fly pass. Another 3 people threw balls at me but I dodged two of them and caught the third. The kid whose ball I caught looked surprised but went and sat on the sideline.

The rest of my team got out in minutes. I'd been picking off the opposing team one by one. About 5 minutes into the game, it was me versus Luke, Hazel, Annabeth, Ethan, Piper, Will and Frank. Drew had gotten out some time ago.

Piper flung her ball at me. From what figured, she was actually pretty fiesty but I caught it all the same.

"McLean, out!" Coach yells.

Suddenly, Annabeth called out stop.

I noticed that their team had all the balls.

"Ok. Everybody. When I say three, launch your balls at him together." Annabeth instructed. I wasn't even worried. I had dodged so many weapons and claws in my life that I could probably do this with my eyes closed.

"One." she says slowly. I glance at Hedge and he smiles.

"Two." I lower myself down into what usually is my fighting stance.

"Three!" Five balls came flying at me. I dodge the first three and catch the others.

"Levesque, Nakamura, out!" Coach shouts. I notice that Will is still holding his ball.

"Now, Will!" I hear Annabeth call. Will's ball shoots towards me with amazing speed and precision but in the seconds before it gets to me I throw the two balls I'm holding at Frank and Luke and then catch the one Will just threw, a millisecond before it hits my face. Both of the balls I threw hit their targets.

"Castellan, Solace, Zhang, out!"

"This is so rigged!" I hear Luke mutter as he reluctantly walks off.

Now, it's just me and Annabeth. She looks at me in surprise, seemingly amazed that I managed to defeat her entire team by myself.

There is one ball right by Annabeth's feet and she bends over to pick it up. As soon as she stands up, I throw my ball at her. She knocks it away just in time with her own ball but the force knocks it out of her hands. There is one ball between us, right in the middle. She looks up at me and I look up at her. At the exact same time we both race to the ball.

I slow down, let her get it and then back up and get back into my stance. Annabeth picks up the ball and looks up at me. I raise an eyebrow in a way that says 'bring it'. With more force than I could've imagined she contained, she throws the ball. It speeds toward me so fast that I'm sure most of the kids on the sideline can't even see it.

I backflip and spring up and over the ball. Whilst I'm upside down I snatch the ball midair and land on my feet. I then throw the ball at Annabeth. It smacks her on the legs.

"Annabeth Chase, out! Percy's team wins!"

Coach of course didn't look at all surprised but every single other person in the room did.

"How-... How did you...?" Annabeth stutters when we're all shaking hands. I shrug.

"I dunno. Energy drink or something, maybe?" She continues to look amazed as I walk away from her. When I get out of earshot I chuckle and glance over at Coach.

"I've seen better," he says with a grin as he catches me looking. "I expect you'll be coming back to camp tomorrow, yes?" I nod and smile.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."


	8. A Visitor?

"I'm home mum!" I shout as soon as I step in the door of our apartment. No answer. She must still be at work. The hollow silence of the building is the only thing that greets me. Wait. What's that?

I can hear a scratching noise from the kitchen. A monster? Surely not. I've never been attacked in my own house before and I'm pretty sure it won't happen today. Then again, I have been known to be wrong a couple of times…

The scratching noise continues. Is it a cat? _No you idiot_, my brain tells me_, how could a cat get in here_?

I pull Riptide out of my pocket and creep towards the opened door. As soon as I get there I huddle up against the door, out of sight from whomever or whatever is in my kitchen. My face is pressed up so close against the old walls that I can see the paint peeling off them.

One…

Two…

Three!

On three I twist into the doorway with Riptide in sword form and slip into my fighting stance instantly.

"Gods, Percy! Scare the Hades out of me why don't you?" Nico screeches from his spot on the bench stool next to the counter. His bowl of food lies abandoned in front of him and the fork that he was using is still clattering from the spot it landed on the floor when he flung it in surprise.

He wears an expression of surprise and alarm which he quickly covers up with one of annoyance. I take one look at him and burst out laughing, the worried feeling I'd felt before now washed away.

"Why didn't you answer when I called out 'mum'?" I ask him, in between fits of laughter.

"Because I'm not your mum," he replies, still scowling.

"Yeah, but if you'd answered I wouldn't of had to scare you."

"Whatever Perce."

"So, how'd you get in anyway?" I ask, although I already have an idea.

"Shadow travelled." I nod in understanding. That's what I thought. He begins to pick at his food with his fingers and I lean down for a closer look.

"Hey! Is that my blue cake?" I shout, outraged.

"Needed to refuel," Nico muffles through a mouthful of food. I shake my head.

"You better make me some more," I order him.

"So, are you coming back to camp tomorrow? Everyone misses you," He quickly changes the subject.

"Definitely. You gonna stay the night?"

"Yep. I'll shadow travel you tomorrow."

"Awesome. Now come help me pack." Nico groans.

"I hate packing!" He whines.

"Yeah. So do I. That's why you're helping."

"No." Nico says bravely. I cock an eyebrow and him and he crosses his arms defiantly.

"Well… I could always bring out Riptide…" I remind him. Nico's a good sword fighter but nowhere near as good as me. He groans again.

"You suck so much Percy. If I had the energy to shadow travel away, I would. Just so you know." I laugh and pull him up.

"Let's go then, death breath."


	9. Good Morning, Nico

"No..." I moaned, "Please no! Don't! Stop! Take me instead but please, please don't eat her!" I felt a tear roll down my cheek, leaving a hot, wet trail in it's wake. "Please! I'll do anything! Let us be together!" The monster's head snapped around to face me.

"Anything at all, Perseus Jackson?" It hissed at me. Another tear fell out of my eye.

"Anything. Just spare her!"

The monster laughed. "You are foolish, Perseus, but very well." He tossed me the bit of blue cake he'd been holding and I dived to catch it. We were together again, perhaps only breifly, but together.

"You have your cake, Jackson. Now for your bargain! I order you to give me all your blue cookies!" It took a second for this to sink it. Suddenly, BAM! I felt like my strings had been cut. My knees buckled and I lay on the cold, uneven ground and let out such an awful, pitiful, despairing noise that I swear I shook the very foundations of this land.

I jerked awake, breathing heavily. I took inventory. I was at home. I was okay. My blue food was okay. Life was good. Thank the gods. It was just a dream.

After lying still for a few seconds I rolled onto my side. And who might I see on a stretcher bed next to me? Nico di Angelo. Asleep and unsuspecting. A plan worthy of the Hermes cabin began to formulate in my mind.

I silently jumped out of bed and went down the hall, being careful to make sure I didn't wake up Mum or Paul as I walked past their room. When I got to the bathroom I went over to the bath and filled it 3/4 of the way, using my awesome son-of-poseidon powers in the process to make sure the water didn't make any noise as it fell into the bath. When it was at 3/4 I turned off the taps, put a finger in the water and concentrated. As I did I felt a far-off cold sensation in the finger. I knew the water was getting colder. 14℃, 10℃, 7℃ and finally, 5℃ **(41 degrees Fahrenheit for y'all Americans)**, the temperature I was aiming for. When I was satisfied I went back to the room I was sharing with Nico and went over to his bed.

"Oh you poor, unsuspecting son of Hades. If only you knew what you're in for." I whispered to his sleeping figure.

As quietly and as softy as I could, I bent down, picked up Nico and carried him to the bathroom. I used my mind to spit the water in the bath to either side, leaving a perfect, Nico sized hole. Slowly and carefully I lay Nico in the space and directed the water back over the top of him, leaving a very thin layer of air surrounding his entire body so he didn't wake up.

Having accomplished my plan I stood back up and walked over to the door. As soon as he woke up and moved, the surface tension would break, causing the freezing cold water to collapse onto him.

I took my final glance at him and left the room, heading downstairs to where I could finally hear sounds of movement.

Before I walk into the kitchen I ruffle up my hair and put on my tired face. Pushing the door open I see my mum at the bench drinking coffee and mixing a batter for some pancakes.

"Mornin' Mum." I mumble, doing a convincing impression of someone who had just woken up. She looked up and smiled.

"Good morning Percy! You're up early." She says happily. Ugh. Morning people.

"Yeah, I had a bad dream." I tell her. She looks worried for a second.

"Demigod stuff?"

I pause, "Uh, not really." The worried face disappears and she glances behind me, as if I'm hiding something.

"Where's Nico?"

"Oh, him. Yeah, he's still asleep. It looked like he was having a good dream and I didn't want to wake him." She looks at me suspiciously. I guess you could say that I'm not exactly known for my thoughtfulness of other people when there's an opportunity to prank. All the same, she drops it.

"Alrighty then, well if you just want to go and watch some TV I'll bring some pancakes to you when they're ready."

I smile. "Thanks, mum! I love you!" And race into the lounge room.

I'm only in their for about 10 minutes before Mum comes in with a plateful of steaming hot pancakes, dripping with maple syrup.

"Here you are." I instantly pick up the fork and start shoveling in pancakes.

"Thanks mum, you're the best!" I say, my mouth filled with blue pancakes and syrup running down my cheek. She laughs.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Just come and let me know when Nico's up."

"Sure thing. I'm sure he's having a fantastic drea-" I say, just before there's a loud splash from upstairs. My mum and I look up to the ceiling. Suddenly, there's a noisy eruption of coughing and wheezing.

"Is that...?" Mum starts.

"Yup." I say, popping the P. "Nico."

Once the coughing stops there's silence for half a second until an enormous, ear-splitting shout pierces the morning.

"PERSEUS JACKSON. I SWEAR TO EVERY SINGLE GOD THAT I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

I look at my mum who's staring at me, shaking her head.

"Well, I hope you have a nice morning, I shall see you in about an hour?" I tell her calmly, placing my fork onto my now empty plate.

I stand up and walk towards the front door. in the very instant I open the door, I hear a loud slipping noise and a few thumps and then a furious, sopping wet Nico holding his stygian iron sword appears at the top at the stairs.

"YOU BETTER STOP RIGHT THERE, JACKSON OR YOU'RE GONNA GET IT TEN TIMES WORSE!" he screams.

I step outside, wink at Nico and make a little kissing motion with my hands.

"Love you too." I tell him, right before I step outside the door and instantly break into a sprint, straight towards the Hudson river.

Let's just say that duelling Nico with his head on straight compared to versing a completely furious Nico who genuinely wants to kill me are two very different things. Just so it's clear, the embarrassment of running through freaking New York City with no shirt and only my pajama shorts on is nothing compared to what Nico will do if he catches me. Best to give him some time to cool off.

I hear the slam of a front door behind me when I'm halfway down the street.

"YOU. ARE. SO. FREAKING. DEAD. NOW!" He screams, making a couple of early morning walkers on the street turn to look at the skinny, pale, dripping wet kid running down the street screaming and disturbing their morning.

"Only if you can catch me, my friend! Only if you can catch me!" I shout back, without turning around. Now, I just had to make it to the river and I'm home free.


	10. Is that Percy?

**Annabeth's POV:**

"So, then he was like, are you sure you don't wanna date me? And I'm like, 'No John! How many times do I have to tell you? I'm never going to date you!' And then he just walked away with his head down." As soon as I finished my story, all of us cracked up.

I'm at the little milkshake parlour on the corner of West 42nd street, downtown New York **(A/N: I'm sorry if I wrote that wrong, I'm not really sure how the system works) **with my group, Luke, Piper, Drew, Will, Ethan, Frank and Hazel. We'd just finished drinking and paying and were about to leave.

The eight of us walked out onto the curb, chatting and laughing about the random things that had happened during the week when, who should round the corner? None other than Percy Jackson.

Percy is running about five times faster than I ever knew he could, quite possibly even faster than Will can run, and Will's a national champion runner. He grinning like a lunatic and wearing nothing but a pair of pyjama shorts. Man, he has some serious muscle. Where the heck did that come from? I barely even have time to think the words _what a weirdo _before he's almost upon us.

Just then the bell of the shop door we just left rings and there's someone muttering something that sounds like,

"What the hell? Percy?" And then the person that is behind us calls out, "Oi kelp head! What the Hades are you doing?"

Percy stops dead in his tracks and looks up and the speaker.

"Thalia? THALIA!" With that, he runs over to the girl, Thalia, and gives her a massive hug.

"Hi Kelp head." She says and then after about 10 seconds of him hugging her, adds, "Ok, you can get off me now." Percy lets go and backs away.

The girl has punk styled black hair and dark clothes on with a silver sash around her waist and tiny silver tiara on her head. She's also holing a bottle of water in her hand.

"What on Earth are you doing?" She asks. Realisation overcomes Percy's strong features.

"Running... Pranked... Nico..." Percy mutters while walking around Thalia.

"What? You pranked him? Why would you... Percy. What are you doing?" He was now crouched behind Thalia and trying to curl himself into a ball as small as possible. What an idiot. How predictable for him to need someone else's help.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Thalia questions whilst staring at the place where Percy just rounded the corner.

"I kind of had to leave really quickly." Thalia laughs and then glances back to where she was looking. She lets out a gasp and chokes back a laugh.

Instantly I turn my head to where she is looking and my eyes widen more than I knew they even could. There is a skinny, yet still slightly muscular looking kid running our way. He looks almost goth with his shadowy eyes and dark hair. The most interesting thing about his appearance, though, is the fact that he's also still in his pyjamas and is dripping wet.

"Is that...?" Thalia starts.

"Yep." I hear Percy whisper back. "Don't tell him I'm here."

The boy looks completely and utterly mad. His eyes are furious and he has a long sheath-like thing hanging around his waist. His eyes flicker quickly around the street and then land on Thalia and widen. Instantly a little bit of the anger in his eyes disappear.

"Thalia?"

"Y-yes Nico?" Thalia stutters out. Just then the boy- Nico I suppose- glances down and sees Percy. Hard not to, considering he's just crouching and covering his eyes. Instantly his dark eyes narrow and become hard again.

"Jackson." He growls, and Percy stiffens. "I. Can. Not. Believe. You. Did. That."

_Did what? _I wonder.

Percy takes his hands away from his eyes, straightens up and grins sheepishly at Nico.

"Dude. Come on man. It was just a joke." Nico looks outraged.

"A joke? You almost froze me! You know I don't like water that much because of my dad!"

"I'm sorry. Please. Let's just go back to my place and get you dry."

"Not a chance in Hades. Come here." He orders. Percy looks worried. Wimp. He shakes his head.

"I said, COME HERE!" Nico shouts. Thalia winces and steps aside. In one quick motion she bends down and touches Percy on the shoulder. It doesn't look like it would hurt but Percy flies back with his hair sticking in all directions. He looks like he's just been shocked. How the heck did _that_ happen?

Percy groans and rubs his shoulder. He looks around and sends a withering glare that would have had me quivering in seconds. Thalia just looks used to it.

"Traitor." He mutters.

Thalia shrugs. "Sorry," she says.

Nico grins in triumph and reaches for the sheath thing on his waist. Percy begins to reach for his pyjama pocket before choosing this time to glance around him. His eyes instantly land on me and my group, all still standing shell shocked and watching them. His eyes widen in surprise and his hand shoots to Nico's wrist and grasps it, holding it still before he can take out whatever was inside of it.

"Θνητοί. ***Mortals***" He whispers in what sounds like another language? Maybe Greek? Nico and Thalia both look at us.

"You're so god damn lucky, Jackson." Nico says, almost as if we weren't there, "Next time, I'll have your head." Percy's face breaks out in a grin of relief and he turns to look at Thalia.

"Hey do you want to come back to my place before we leave?" _Leave for where? _I wonder.

Apparently Thalia knows because she simply says, "Sure thing. I hope your mum has made cookies!" And with that they all walk off together in the direction of where I assume Percy's house is.

When they round the corner all of my group look at each other, dumb struck.

"What the hell just happened?" Luke asks, confused.

Everyone shakes their heads to signal that they don't know, either.

"I don't know." I say, before I can even register that I'm talking. "But I intend to find out."


	11. We Finally Leave!

**Percy's POV**

I unlock and push open the door to my apartment.

"Mum we're home!" I shout into the hallway. Thalia looks at me expectantly. I sigh. "And Thalia's here too!"

Mum rounds the corner faster than you could say 'ohmygods'. She envelops Thalia in a suffocating hug but it doesn't look like she minds.

"Thalia! It's so nice to see you!"

"And you too, Sally."

Mum glances at me and Nico, "Hopefully you can bring some sense into these silly boys. Chasing each other around New York City half naked... They could have been attacked!" I look at her sceptically. My mum knows that I can handle almost any monster by myself. With two other children of the big three by my side, it wouldn't have even been a workout.

"With Thalia and Nico here I doubt they could've done anything." I say dubiously. Mum sighs in defeat and hangs her head.

"I know, Percy. I just never want anything to happen to you... You're my little boy." With that she gives me a kiss on the cheek and I smile.

"I love you so much mum. Don't worry. I'll always be round here to annoy you." Behind her back I can see Nico making dopey love faces and kissy motions with his hands.

Suddenly his expression changed to one of shock. I look at Thalia who's smiling. Nico crouches down and holds his shin, which is turning a slightly bluish colour. Clearly Thalia as just kicked him.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" Nico shouts. My mum sighs and turns around.

"Don't be rude than, corpse breath." Thalia shoots back.

"That's enough guys." My mum says with faint smile on her face.

"Pinecone face..." Nico mumbles under his breath so that my mum doesn't hear. Thalia mouths the words 'we will finish this later' and steps on Nico's foot. Nico lets out a slight gasp and my mum turns back to them and gives them a warning look. Thalia smiles innocently and Nico just winces.

Just then I decide to explode the water bottle in Thalia's hand. Her eyes widen in surprise. Water flies in all directions but before any of it can hit the floor I make it freeze in mid-air. Slowly, I bring my hands together into a fist shape and the water copies my movement, coming together into two little balls of water floating right above Thalia's and Nico's heads. I smile at them and they shake their heads in fear. I nod and open my hands. The water drops and splashes all over them, not single drop hits the floor.

"Aww come on! I was almost dry!" Nico groans.

"It's so on later, Perce!" Thalia threatens. I shrug.

"Prepare to lose." I tell her.

"Have you packed for camp yet, Percy?" Mum asks in order to change the subject.

I nod my head, "Yes." I say.

"Do you have your socks?"

"Yes."

"A spare pair as well?"

"Yes, mum."

"All your clothes?"

"Yup."

"Swimmers?"

"Yes."

"Do you have your undies?"

"Mum!" I blurt out, shooting an embarrassed glance at Nico and Thalia whose shoulders were silently shaking from laughter. She now gives _me_ a warning glare. Her own son! I hang my head in shame.

"Yes." I mutter.

"Good boy! When are you kids leaving?"

"At 12, so in about 15 minutes. We're shadow travelling." I say.

Nico nods but Thalia looks hesitant.

I notice and ask, "What's up Thals?"

She sighs and says "Well, my car is still at the milkshake place where you guys found me."

"Well, I suppose we're not shadow travelling then." I say, slightly disappointed. I love the feeling of shadow travelling.

"Sorry, Percy."

"Nah it's all good. But there is one thing..."

"What?" Both Thalia and Nico ask curiously at the same time.

"I call shotgun!" I shout. My mum rolls her eyes and Thalia blurts out,

"And I'm driver!"

Nico groans.

"Awwwe no fair! I'm always back seat!" Thalia and I laugh.

"Well call shotgun next time!" She reasons. Mum shakes her head.

"Teenagers," she mutters, "I'll never understand them." We all laugh again.

"Ok, Percy, you should go get your bag and get changed. You too Nico." Thalia tells us when we're over our little fit. Nico and I stick our tongues out at her and head upstairs to get my bag and get changed.

On the way I pass a slippery water trail that Nico must've made when he was running downstairs to kill me. I quickly dry it up. Wouldn't want my mum to slip. I then head to the bathroom whereas Nico goes straight to my room to get changed. I pull the plug on the bath that is still filled with freezing cold water.

Finally, I duck into my room just as Nico's coming out and grab my bag with my gear in it, get changed and head back downstairs. Paul is now standing next to my mum, ready to wish us goodbye.

"Just a sec." I tell them and place my bag at their feet and head into the kitchen. The few dirty dishes for breakfast are sitting there. I made a small gesture with my hands and the water turns on and floats to the dishes. Quickly and easily I wash them, dry them and then put them away. A job that normally would've taken half an hour or more takes me two minutes.

I race back into the room where everyone else is and they look at me curiously.

"Washing up." I say by way of explanation. Mum and Paul smile proudly whilst Nico mouths 'mamma's boy' behind their backs.

I walk over to mum, give her a big hug and tell her I love her and I'd be back tomorrow night. Then I shake Paul's hand and tell him to take care of my mum while I'm gone. Thalia and Nico also say goodbye and thank you and with that we walk back outside with my bag.

It only takes us a few minutes to reach the milkshake parlour's car park and find Thalia's car.

"Ok. We are so not getting in my car wet!" Thalia says when Nico opens the door. The walk mostly dried them off but they're still a little damp. I sigh.

"Come here, then." I tell them and they walk around the car to me. I touch their arms and they dry off in a millisecond.

"Better?"

"Much better." She replies.

Finally we all slip inside and shut the doors.

With that, Thalia turns on the car and we're off to camp.


	12. This is Camp?

**Annabeth's POV**

"So what's everyone doing later today?" Piper asks.

It's been 25 minutes since we'd seen Percy with his friends, Nico and Thalia. Since then we'd gone back into the milkshake parlour to discuss what we'd seen. Percy had acted so... Normal. So... Confident. So unlike him. And who were those other two? The girl, Thalia, had said that they were planning on leaving to somewhere soon. Hazel had suggested following them back to Percy's place but before we had time to say yes, the trio had disappeared around a corner.

"Well, I'm planning to go back home and work on my Geography assignment. It's about time I finished it anyway," Frank says glumly.

"I'll come and do it with you, if you want?" Hazel mutters timidly. Hazel and Frank weren't going out but it was clear that they liked each other.

Frank's mood brightened, "Sure! I'd love that! You ready to go?" Hazel nods.

"Bye guys!" They say together. There was a chorus of 'see ya laters' and 'bye' and then they leave. I watch them walk outside, chatting and laughing until they get into Frank's car and drive off. From there, my eyes travel around the almost empty car park and then land on the only other three people outside. Percy Jackson and his two friends.

"Guys, look!" I whisper. All their heads turn curiously to face me. I nod outside. Percy was talking with his friends as he headed around to the passenger side of the car. They were obviously going somewhere.

"Should we follow them?" Will asked. All of us nod.

"Yes," I say, "I want to figure out what they're doing." We all stand up and Luke pulls out a $20 note and leaves it on the table to pay for the few drinks we'd ordered when we'd come back inside.

The six of us hurry out and climb into Luke's van. He turns the keys in the ignition and starts the car just as the car Percy had gotten in was leaving the car park.

"Quickly, Luke," I urge from my place in the passenger side.

He reverses out of his spot and turns the van to follow Percy's car.

We've been driving for about twenty minutes **(A/N Ok, I know at the start of the book I said it was a 5 hour drive or something but, seriously, who would follow someone for 5 hours? It is now only a half an hour drive to Camp Half Blood.) **in which time we talked and tried to guess where they were heading. We'd decided if we were travelling for more than an hour we would give up and go home.

Finally, the car turned down a smaller dirt road and travelled that way for about 10 minutes before it came to a stop on a big hill. So as not to look suspicious we drove a bit farther down the road, just until we were out of sight and then we turned off the car and got out. It was very beautiful in this area. We were surrounded by wide, open fields with plump, red strawberries growing on the plants.

The six of us backtrack the way we'd come and arrive back at where the car Percy had arrived in was parked. Now that we were out of the car we could hear the loud talking and laughing of at least a hundred kids coming from down the hill.

We follow the noise and find ourselves at a large pine tree, standing tall and proud against the healthy landscape. A little bit farther down the hill there's a pretty wooden farmhouse and something that looks like a camp. There are twelve very different looking cabins all lined up in a U shape. I can see a volleyball court and a beautiful lake shimmering in the afternoon light. Kids are spread out, some huddled in groups and others just playing games. All look like they're enjoying themselves.

"Wow," is all I can say.

"This place is beautiful," Piper breathes. Luke, Will and Ethan nods. Drew just shrugs.

"I've seen better," she says, "like my reflection. That's better." The rest of us ignore her. Why is she even here? None of us really like her.

"I think it's some kind of camp," Luke says.

Ethan smiles, "Do you think they're open to admissions?"

"Hey, that's actually a good idea!" I say enthusiastically.

"But Percy. He's obviously a camper here. Why would we want to hang with him?" Will asks.

"Ha! He's probably some loser here as well! We could show him who's boss here, too," Luke says with a grin. We all smile.

"Let's go find out if we can join!" I say. We begin to head down the steep slope. When we're about halfway there a man walks out of the farmhouse. Except he's not a man. Every one of us stumble backwards and gasp.

"What the hell?" Piper says.

"What a freak!" Squeals Drew in disgust. The man is normal up until his mid back. Past there he is some kind of white stallion. Half a horse. My own face screws up in confusion. What's going on?

Just then, Percy and his two friends walk out behind the half-horse dude.

Thalia shouts out, "Oi everyone! Kelp head is back!" She's so loud that we can hear it from here. Apparently every other kid in the camp can hear it to because every single one of them turn to face the farmhouse with delighted smiles on their faces.

"Woohoo! Percy's here!" A kid with curly brown hair says as he runs up to them. He's wearing an orange t-shirt that's half burnt and covered in grease stains. The boy arrives at Percy's side and starts talking to him.

By now the entire camp is standing in a circle around Percy, all trying to talk to him at once. He's smiling and... laughing? What the heck? Before today I didn't even know he _could _laugh.

Why is everyone so excited to see him?

"Hey guys! I'm glad to be back! But only for today and until tomorrow night!" Percy yells over the top of all the kids. His announcement is met with many boos and 'awwws'.

"Sorry guys, but it's the best I can do!" He says. Everyone is still booing. "But..." he shouts over the loud crowd and they instantly quieten down, "There will be a game of Capture the Flag tomorrow morning at 11! Make sure you're ready! Poseidon and Zeus are leading this time! Romans are with their parent's Greek counterpart. Teams are; on Poseidon's side: Athena, Apollo and Hermes. Everybody else is with Zeus."

In contrast to his last statement, this announcement is met with an overwhelming amount of cheering. Percy is lifted off his feet and held up. He's laughing the whole time and Thalia and Nico are too. It seems like he's about to be carried off but at the last second he lifts his eyes and looks up. Right. At. Us.

"Sh*t," Piper whispers.

Percy's eyes narrow and harden.

"Put me down," he tells the crowd in a dangerously quiet voice. They do as he says immediately and at the same time quieten down. Percy is still glaring at us and everyone else turns to look at us.

"Thalia," he says. Thalia nods once and makes a small gesture with her hands. Suddenly, a light breeze that quickly transforms into an impossible strong gale starts up. Strangely, none of the trees around us are moving; it seems to just be around us.

The wind starts to push us down the hill. We try to fight back but it's too strong. We're close to the group now, maybe only 15 metres away **(A/N: About 49 feet)**. Percy steps forward, away from the campers. His eyes look like the sea on a stormy day.

We're only a metre away when the winds die down and I realise that I'm scared. I'm scared of this boy I've bullied since he arrived at my school. I don't feel strong or in control next him at all. Not when he's acting like this. Like some kind of leader.

"What the hell," he starts, glaring daggers at us, "are you guys doing here?"


End file.
